1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable guide for bundling a plurality of cables into a neat and organized bundle as the cables are being run in a building as a part of the infrastructure for the building. More specifically, the present invention is a cable guide that can be manually used by a cable installer to manage the installation of cable. The cable guide keeps the cables identified and organized and allows the installer to quickly bundle the cables by sliding cable ties off of the trailing end of the cable guide so that the ties encircle the organized cable bundle. Also, the cable guide is provided with a side slot that allows the installer to easily add or remove cable from the bundle as the bundle is formed, thereby allowing cable to be run to new cable jacks within the building.
2. Description of the Related Art
The largest cost in installing cables as part of the infrastructure in a building is the labor costs associated with running the cables. The installation of cables in a building is time consuming because the installer must manually bundle a plurality of cables and place cable ties around the bundle at spaced apart intervals so that the cable bundle will remain orderly and can be installed in a minimum amount of space within the walls or above the ceiling of the building. Manually keeping a plurality of cables organized and together is a straight configuration while the bundle is made up is challenging because the cable that has previously been wound onto spools for storage tends to get tangled and disorganized.
Another problem that installers face when running cable is that they need to be able to identify each cable as the cable bundle is being created so that the proper cable can be run out of the bundle at the proper place so that it can be run to the proper location within the building. When management of the cable is done manually, it is hard to keep track of each individual cable that is contained within a bundle.
The present invention addresses this problem by providing a cable guide that can be used by the installer to quickly manually bundle cable in a straight, organized bundle, while continually keeping each cable identified. The invention is provided on one end with a plurality of openings or channels for receiving the individual cables that will make up the finished cable bundle. The invention is provided on that same end with one or more movable rings that, depending on the relative position of the ring or rings, will permit access to each of the individual channels or alternately prohibit access to the individual channels. The movable ring or rings allow individual cables to be added to, removed from, or maintained within the cable guide, as desired.
Each channel is labeled so that the installer can identify each cable by the channel identifying mark associated with the channel into which the cable is inserted.
An opposite end of the cable guide is provided with a cylindrical portion that terminates with a boot that squeezes the cable into a tight bundle as the cable exits the cable guide. Cable ties can be pre-tied around the cylindrical portion so that as the cable guide is pulled in the direction of the first end relative to the cable, the cable ties can be slid off of the cylindrical portion and around the tightly squeezed bundle at spaced apart intervals along the cable bundle. As the cable ties are slid onto the cable bundle, the installer will pull each cable tie to tighten it around the cable bundle, thereby securing the cable bundle in the organized manner that it was placed into the channels on the opposite first end of the cable guide.
The present cable guide is easy to use and can save the cable installer as much as 70–80% on the time needed to install cable in a building, thereby significantly reducing the cast of cable installation.